Making Goat Milk Butter at Home

Good butter can be made from goat's milk, but ordinarily very little is produced because the fat globules are so small that they are difficult to separate from the milk. Unless artificially colored, the butter is very white and resembles lard in appearance. If colored, it resembles cow's butter although it does not have the same texture. It can be used for the table or for cooking.

PROCEDURE

Pasteurization

Pasteurize the milk by holding at 145 F for 30 minutes, and cool rapidly to 40-45 F.

Separation

Due to the smallness. of the fat globules, separation will normally be incomplete unless a cream separator is used. A cream separator, if available, will recover practically all the butterfat. If a separator is not available, the milk can be set in a shallow pan and brought to the scalding point by slow gentle heating. The milk is then set aside in a cool place, and in ten or twelve hours the cream may be removed in thick layer.

Churning

Churning uses mechanical means to pound, dash, or beat the cream until the minute globules of butterfat in the cream stick together and form butter granules. Probably the best kind of churn for making small quantities of butter is a gallon glass churn equipped with wooden paddles. Fill the churn only one-third to one-half full, never more than one-half full. Churning incorporates air into the cream end causes it to increase in volume. Butter granules form best when the cream is churned at a temperature of 54 to 58 F in summer and 58 to 64 F in winter.

Stop churning when the butter granules are about the size of kernels of corn, about 30-40 minutes of churning is a medium rate of speed. Remove the granules of butter from the buttermilk and wash them with a equal amount of water about the temperature of the buttermilk or a little cooler. Drain the water off, and repeat the washing process until the water comes off clear. Add salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon to each pound of butter. The salt will dissolve more quickly if moistened before it is added to the butter. Work the butter with the paddle until the salt is evenly distributed and all the buttermilk is extracted. Add coloring if desired.